bad kit. how to complain?

[happyhoppytaff]

i had a very bad kit of geordie best bitter.


does anyone know how i can contact the manufacturers?


i used the online form on tom caxton/geordie bitter web page but the form wont send my message.

ive pasted my message into this post so i dont have to re write it.



































Dear Sir or Madam

I am writing to you with a complaint.

I bought a Gerodie best bitter kit from 'The HomeBrew Crew, Cardiff' last week. I found the kit to be contaminated in some way.

on opening the can i found there was a foam on top of the syrup. when i poured it came out in clumps. after rinsing the can I found a brittle tarry deposit on the inside base.

I went ahead and let the beer ferment but after 3 days i found there had been little or no fermentation and the 'beer' gave off a very nasty sharp acid smell.
I decided I could not serve this beer for fear of making anyone ill. I had to dump the whole 5 gallons.

I am very surprised by this as I have always found geordie best bitter to be a very acceptable beer and I have never found any kit to be so badly wrong.

the code on the can is: ***********

a number on the base of the can is incomplete, having been stamped across the rim of the can. what i can make out is: ***********

I feel I am very lucky that this bad kit was not my first. I may not have realised there was a problem and I could have made a very nasty beer, and could have quite easily made myself and others very unwell.

I hope you acknowledge this complaint and receive it in the constructive manner in which it is sent.

yours sincerely

 

[graysalchemy]

Have you contacted the shop where you bought it from? It should be up to them to replace it, I would have thought as it was them who you actually bought it off. Was the can in date?

I would still complain to the manufacturer though as well.

Good luck.

 

[happyhoppytaff]

i have just contacted the shop but it is a small business and i dont want to blame them for a badly manufactured kit.

surely tomcaxton/geordie should be more open to communication from those who actually brew their kits.

how can i contact them? i cant find an email or snailmail address anywhere

EDIT.

the can was indate. it had over a year left before bbe date. it should not have been so bad until way after this date, surely?

 

[graysalchemy]

Legally your contract is with the the homebrew shop and even though it was manufactured by another company it was bought through the homebrew shop. The homebrew shop will be able to take it up with their supplier. Failing that they should be able to supply you a contact, but again the onus is on them even if they only act on your behalf with the supplier.

 

[HLA91]

I would go with graysalchemy, I have used The HomeBrew Crew once before and found them to be knowledgeable and helpful and they will hopefully chase their suppliers and the message will hopefully go up the chain. Sadly I think it would take more than 1 bad kit before the supplier did anything though but we dont know if this has been a one of do we or if their have been numerous bad kits around the place.

 

[happyhoppytaff]

i have had a very positive response from 'muntons' about my 'bad kit' i'm very impressed with their customer service.

:clap: :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

Glad you have got a response and hopefully sorted.
:thumb:

 

[Mr.Everready]

i have had a very positive response from 'muntons' about my 'bad kit' i'm very impressed with their customer service.

:clap: :thumb:

Care to share what the response was ?

 

[happyhoppytaff]

i have had a very positive response from 'muntons' about my 'bad kit' i'm very impressed with their customer service.

:clap: :thumb:

Care to share what the response was ?

i had a very nice email where they asked me to provide as much detail about the kit, in what way was it 'bad'. they said they would look into the problem and that they take this sort of thing very seriously.

they contacted me after the shop where i bought the kit passed on my complaint to them.

ill let you know if i get any goodies off them for my trouble.

 

[happyhoppytaff]

good result in the end. i had a replacement kit delivered and an extra kit for my trouble. they have kept this customer happy